I can’t help but lean into him because his kiss feels like magic. Mesmerizing and pulling me under. Tacker’s tongue touches mine, and a million pulses of pleasure soar through my entire body. Groaning, I kiss him back, my hands going to his head to pull him into me.
Tacker makes a harsh sound within his chest, pushing me into the door. His body presses into me—all hard muscles and strong legs pinning me there, with that one hand still gripping the nape of my neck.
I can’t think when he’s kissing me, which is why it takes a few moments to realize he’s pulled back with an inscrutable expression on his face.
“I’ll call you when I get home,” he says gruffly.
“Or you could kiss me again,” I say with a hopeful, suggestive lift to my eyebrows.
Tacker’s smile is soft as he shakes his head. “I don’t want to rush you.”
I take stock of his tone… commanding. He feels strongly about this… taking it slow.
And I’m okay with that.
Sort of.
“I don’t feel rushed,” I say.
I mean, I’m incredibly attracted to him and I want more. He wants it, too. I felt it pressed against my belly. If my gaze were to drop, I know I’d be staring at an impressive bulge against his jeans.
“I know,” he replies, his tone turning a little hesitant. “But… I’m not sure when it’s the right time. While so many things are clear to me where you’re concerned, I don’t want to do anything to fuck this up. I want it to be absolutely perfect.”
I’m overwhelmed with a swooning sensation that he wants our first time to be perfect, and my heart swells knowing he’s just not sure how to go about it.
Somehow, I think it will be perfect if we just keep kissing, but I can’t do much more than nod my head with a gamine smile. “That perfect time will come.”
“I know it will,” he says, his eyes dropping longingly to my mouth. “Goodnight, Nora.”
“Goodnight,” I whisper.
I stand at my door as Tacker gets in his truck. When he waves, I lift a hand in return before he guns it out of my driveway and down the gravel road that leads out.
Shutting the door, I lean against it and ponder what just happened.
Two people who weren’t looking for anything, yet found something anyway.
What that long-term something is we don’t know, but it’s a daily revelation.
What I do know is we’re attracted to each other on more than just an emotional, spiritual, and intellectual level. While we haven’t acted on it past a few hot kisses—my lips still tingling from the one just moments ago—we’re going to.
Not sure when, though.
Tacker says he doesn’t want to rush me. He doesn’t want to fuck up. He wants it to be absolutely perfect.
And then it hits me… Tacker’s worries are going to be there tomorrow and the next day. Given everything he’s been through, this must be an incredibly hard step to take. It’s one thing to become interested in a woman after coming out of a grieving period over the woman he once thought he’d spend his entire life with.
It’s another to become intimate. It’s the deepest connection two individuals can make, and I imagine if there’s anything that’s going to cause Tacker doubt, it’s this.
One other thing I know… that whenever we decide to move forward, there won’t be a feeling on my part of being rushed. There’s no way Tacker could ever fuck this up.
And I believe it will be perfect.CHAPTER 24TackerI’m that strange mixture of tired and exhilarated at the same time as I unlock my apartment door. I’ve been burning the candle a bit at both ends between balancing my hockey career and my dating life.
So weird… dating life.
So weird that I’m dating at all.
I remember what it was like from when I first started dating MJ. Juggling a schedule that varied every week, road trips, and trying to sneak in quality time. Late-night phone calls that could go on for hours.
It’s all mostly the same with Nora, but if I have to be honest, this whole thing seems a little more exciting.
A little more fulfilling.
Tonight, being at Erik and Blue’s house, celebrating the marriage of my friends Legend and Pepper… all I can say is it wouldn’t have felt right if Nora hadn’t been there with me. I am already considering her to be part of my family with the Vengeance.
I can only assume that’s because I’ve come out of the longest funk of funks, so perhaps it’s just natural that everything seems just… a little more.
Regardless, I try not to overanalyze but rather just enjoy.
I step across my threshold into my bare apartment. All my good intentions to buy furniture have sort of been abandoned now that I’m actively back on the roster. I haven’t had a spare bit of time to look into it more.